Ellis Clark Trains

Afternoon all,

We've just received the final delivery of Mk1 Suburbans!

This now means that all coach types and liveries are now in stock.

All the best,
Ellis.

On 10/11/2019 at 19:59, 2ManySpams said:

 

Hi Ellis

 

Email was sent a while back to Paddy as instructed. Nothing through the post yet. Have i been missed?

 

All the best.

Hi there,

Sorry, please can I either have your name or send another email and we'll get this done straight away.

Kindest regards,

Ellis.

On 25/11/2019 at 11:59, ba14eagle said:

Does anyone know if its easy to change the knuckle type couplings for 3 links on these?

Hi there,

Very easy - we provide link couplings for the brake ends free of charge.

We're currently just awaiting a re-stock delivery of these, which should come in within the next two weeks.

Kindest regards,

Ellis.

1 hour ago, Fastdax said:

Hi Ellis,

 

Will you have a good range of 57' suburbans for sale at Warley?

 

Thanks.

Hi Duncan,

We will indeed!

Although, if there's any particular coach type/livery you're interested in, please feel free to let me know.

I can then hold them back (no obligation of course) until you've had a look.

All the best,

Ellis.

5 hours ago, CME and Bottlewasher said:

Hi all,

 

I was just wondering, and dare I ask? Is the height of the Suburbans scaled/has the bogie height/relative height matter been sorted since the MK1s?

 

They look very good in most regards, but it's often hard to tell from photos (without locos etc).

 

Also does anyone know if the WR or SR (regions) ever ran these in two car sets, akin to the exGWR B-Sets?? Or were they run in three car sets?

 

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

Atvb

 

CME.

Hi there,

Happy to confirm these are fully to scale.

Correct height, width and length, alongside correct scale bogies (also available separately) and scale wheels.

There's a couple of pics of them on our website's gallery page, also there's a few that have been posted on the Gauge O Guild forum.

We're currently updating and adding more to our gallery page.

There's also a video of them running on Grindley Brook, which can be found on our Facebook page.

Not sure how many the Western region used in rakes - the Southern region opted for the 63ft suburbans however.

All the best,

Ellis.

On 12/11/2019 at 11:47, mervyn said:

Can I ask is there any possibility of Andries doing his 6 wheeled coarse scale coaches in fine scale ?....

Hi there,

Not currently - but it is certainly something to consider for later production.

Kindest regards,

Ellis.

Morning all,

We've got two bits of exciting news...

We've been waiting a while for these drawings, and they're now here, as our lead designer has finished the CADs for the simulated teak coaches.

Our designer has spent 8 weeks working on a slightly different finish for each coach, alongside creating each panel from scratch. What do we all think?

All the best,

Ellis.

Evening all,

The Darstaed Mk1 Suburbans in BR blue are now in stock.

Six coach types to choose from, all are now listed for sale on the website.

We have also taken delivery of the Crimson composite lavatory coaches, which join the current line-up currently listed on our website.

All the best,

Ellis

Hi all,

Will try upload a few more, but due to file size it's not currently letting me upload any more.

Cheers,

Ellis.

...and a few more

Afternoon all,

May I present to you the first completed CAD drawings of the forthcoming Black 5.

What do we think? All comments welcomed.

All the best,
Ellis.

Afternoon all,

Plenty of updates to this growing project with one big and exciting one...

We're happy to announce that within this range of coaches we will producing a very limited number of 'The Elizabethan' express coach sets. To save me repeating myself, full details can be found in the handout and on the website under the Darstaed section.

I'll also bullet point some of the other updates below:

Teak Prices - As you know, the price of the teak coaches was always listed as TBC. Unfortunately we cannot do these for £199, as we have had to invest heavily in new tooling and extensive labour to create a finish that we are happy with. Due to the very high quality paint finish of our coaches, we did not want to do anything "sub-par" on the teaks, especially as done right, they can look pretty superb. The price for these coaches, I can now announce, will be £229 each. We're still awaiting final CADs and will of course keep you all up to date with samples of the planned finish.

Round & Square Windows - We delved deep into this... We are now producing certain coaches with square cornered windows only, others with round windows only, and in the case of the TKs, BTKs and BCKs in Crimson & Cream and Maroon Lined liveries, they will be produced in both. We feel this should enable you to make a nice mix (if you'd like to of course) of round cornered and square cornered windows.

RB Change - We have slightly changed a few things. The RB will now be produced with the fairings over solebars, as we can't seem to find existence of it without this implemented.

Bogies - Three different types of bogies will be produced. The common 8' 6" light bogies, which were fitted to most vehicles, the 8' 0" bogies fitted only to the full brakes, and the 8' 6" heavy bogies used on the restaurant kitchens and Elizabethan stock.

Coach/Destination Name Boards - A nice addition to the large features list - on each coach will be 4 tiny brackets in which you can slot different destination or coach boards. This negates the need for glueing boards in place and means you can easily and quickly swap them around should you wish your train to have a new destination! We are working on a list of different boards which we will produce in house.

RTO now a TO - As a-pose to the original announcement with the RTO, we are now producing a Third Open TO/RTO to diagram 350. These were also used as restaurant cars, alongside having them lettered 'Restaurant Car' when in the 'Elizabethan Express' train.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call, or reply to this thread 

What do you all think to the above?

All the best,
Ellis.

Hi all,

Good news! The springs are now in stock for the CW bogies.

They lower the overall height of the coach by 2mm.

We can supply these springs free of charge for those who have already purchased the coaches, or we can fit them in house, again, free of charge.

If you would like some posting out, or to place an order with the new springs fitted, please feel free to email or call (01756 701451 or ellis@ellisclarktrains.com)

You can also place the order through the website with a note at checkout requesting these springs be fitted.

All the best,

Ellis.

Hi all,

Good news! The springs are now in stock for the CW bogies.

They lower the overall height of the coach by 2mm.

We can supply these springs free of charge for those who have already purchased the coaches, or we can fit them in house, again, free of charge.

If you would like some posting out, or to place an order with the new springs fitted, please feel free to email or call (01756 701451 or ellis@ellisclarktrains.com)

You can also place the order through the website with a note at checkout requesting these springs be fitted.

All the best,

Ellis.

Good evening all,

Excellent news - the first of the Maroon lined and un-lined suburbans are now in stock!

This includes, in both liveries, Brake Seconds, Composites with Lavatory, Seconds, and of course Set A, which is made-up by one of each plus an extra brake second.

Amey started ringing round for pre-orders today, but due to the sheer number, will have to continue tomorrow - as always, you can beat us to it and order through the website, or call between 9 - 5 tomorrow.

All the best,
Ellis.

Hi all,

The springs are currently being bagged up in the factory.

Andries has told me he will send them via an express courier very soon.

I will pop another post in this forum once they have arrived with us.

All the best,

Ellis.

18 hours ago, The Ghost of IKB said:

Any news on the maroon versions?

Hi there,

Maroon, both lined and un-lined, BS, CL and S class coaches are all due in on Wednesday

Cheers,

Ellis.

19 minutes ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

Good news Ellis, I bought my BCK from your stand at Kettering show. How do I put my name down for a set of the springs?

Hi there,

If you send an email to paddy@ellisclarktrains.com.

Simply say how many coaches you would like to change the springs on, alongside your postal address.

All the best,

Ellis.

On 06/09/2019 at 11:19, Airport2010 said:

Darstaed are going to be issuing shorter springs to all customers of the Mk1’s in order to lower them to the correct height so I’ve been told. I’ll believe it when I see it unfortunately.

 

i have 7 of the Mk1’s and would like to acquire at least the same amount again, but until I see actions and not just words, I’ll not buy anything else from Darstaed which is a shame for Ellis as he’s a top bloke. 

Hi there,

Let me take the blame for this one.

I did raise the question of new springs, but did not follow up on it.

I have now sent instructions through to the factory.

We will supply these to you free of charge in little bags.

Hopefully, this should be within the next few weeks.

Kindest regards,

Ellis.

On 06/09/2019 at 11:26, friscopete said:

Surprised there are not any finance schemes for expensive trains  like there are on guitars etc .I can buy a guitar today on 0 % credit for a year them sell off other guitars to pay for it .If I miss the pay back then its 29 %  over three years say .Thats how how I bought a  Gibson and my last amp .Other deals are standard  HP types at lower than credit card rates  .Of course the great and good  and the self styled rich  on here will howl with anquish  at this but  it sells a huge amount of guitars and keeps the market moving .Maybe the train market is too small or fragmented .I would have thought the big boys would have come up with it  by now .

Hi Pete,

It is an excellent idea, and would be something I would love to adopt in the future.

In all honesty, currently we don't have the bank account to offer this facility, as we have to pay upfront for the projects along with the batches as they arrive in the UK, alongside import and VAT.

One of the reasons for announcing this project early on was to enable people to save up for it.

Having said that, it is a goal of mine to offer this service at some stage in the future, as I agree with what you're saying.

We also offer a part exchange service, which many people take us up on.

All the best,

Ellis.

14 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Hats aside, Darstaed suffered really severe quality control (lack thereof) problems with some of their earlier coarse-scale loco mechanisms, a high proportion of which were truly awful, so it is to be hoped that they will get on top of those things this time.

 

The recent coaches seem to bode well.

Hi there,

Rest assured, things have really improved since then, with a different production method for the finescale line of items.

Also, no problems here, as we're using an ABC gearbox and Maxon motor with ball bearing racers.

All the best,

Ellis.

7 hours ago, deltic17 said:

Have they not replied by the ride height issue? - I would have loved to buy some to go with Heljan diesels but if they are too high it is a non starter - if they could be lowered via the bogies that would possibly be a good start to increased sales....let hope they can communicate their ideas soon...

Hi all,

Sorry, I have only just read the comments on this thread, as I have only been following the other Mk1 thread under "Traders" and then "Darstaed".

Re the ride height...

This is something I was made aware of when the coaches came to market.

Since then we have been working on a solution.

We have recently produced extra of the newly tooled bogies available on the Suburbans, which are fully to scale.

We thought this could bring the ride height down on the mainline Mk1s, but unfortunately they fowled the insides of the solebars on corners.

What we are currently doing is a re-run of many of the common coach types in the 5 main liveries we have so far produced.

Within this re-run the sole-bar will be made shallower, so that the bogies do not tap the inside when going round corners.

These coaches will still be a little too high, but only by 1.3mm.

They will also have corridor connections which move up and down (as well as side to side) so they will have no issues coupling to current Mk1 stock.

Why are they too high?

When these coaches were produced, there were a huge amount of features and detailing fitted between the top of the roof and top of the rails (PCB, capacitors, interior detailing, die-cast chassis etc.) which essentially resulted in a height error of 2mm.

It has certainly been a learning curve, and one we have implemented to the suburbans (and Thompson's when they follow) which are accurate all round, having gone back to the drawing board after the feedback received on the mainline Mk1s.

Of course, for some the ride height is fine and for others, it's not - which I completely respect.

Rest assured we are always reading your comments and will always strive to improve the models we release.

Once again, very sorry for not replying on this thread sooner - and I hope this clears up any uncertainty.

All the best,

Ellis.

7 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

Great work, Ellis. Hope that I can find some cash for one of those. Will take a look at your website to see the reservation conditions.

  

Looking at the CAD, I see that you have made the sensible choice of leaving the tender empty. Will it be delivered with a small pack of crushed coal or do we have to source our own?

Hi Joseph,

Pre-orders, you'll be happy to know, are free and "non-binding".

Currently working on coal for the tender - rest assured, in the words of Andries when I asked the question "of course we will supply coal for the tenders, what else would it run on?!" - not sure yet how this will be done, but it will :).

All the best,

Ellis.

Evening all,

Hope this new post finds you well.

As many of you will have seen at Telford today, we made a rather big announcement at stand No. 9.

For those who haven't been to see us today, may I present to you our next project with Darstaed...

The Stanier Class 5 4-6-0, AKA The "Black 5"

Expected Q1 of 2021 and priced at £949 for the DC/DCC Ready versions, and £1,199 for the DCC sound/synchro smoke versions.

Our model will cover the long firebox version from the batch of 227 locomotives built by Armstrong Whitworth in 1936/7. This model, produced by Darstaed and
available exclusively through ourselves, promises to boast a very impressive specification.

The majority of the model will be constructed from super finescale die-cast, having been carefully researched and designed using works drawings, original photos and
preserved examples.

To ensure this model meets our high standards, they will all be fitted with state of the art ABC gearboxes, Maxon motors and for the DCC versions, Zimo sound systems.

SPECIFICATIONS
Super detailed die-cast construction
Genuine ABC Helical Gearbox - built, fitted and tested in the UK
Maxon motor with ball bearing racers
Super detailed cab
Compensating axles
Removable working loco lamps
Firebox glow
DCC ready

STATE OF THE ART DCC VERSIONS
Zimo MX699 Decoder
Boom box double speaker (located in the loco)
Synchronised sound and smoke
Zimo exclusive sound project with 20+ functions

AVAILABLE VERSIONS

D11-1 - LMS Lined, Un-numbered, Welded Tender

D11-2 - LMS Lined, Un-numbered, Riveted Tender

D11-3 - LMS Lined, '5225', Welded Tender

D11-4 - LMS Black, Un-numbered, Welded Tender

D11-5 - LMS Black, Un-numbered, Riveted Tender

D11-6 - LMS Black, '5289' Welded Tender

D11-7 - Early BR Lined, Un-numbered, Welded Tender

D11-8 - Early BR Lined, Un-numbered, Riveted Tender

D11-9 - Early BR Lined, '45344', Welded Tender

D11-10 - Late BR Lined, Un-numbered, Welded Tender

D11-11 - Late BR Lined, Un-numbered, Riveted Tender

D11-12 - Late BR Lined, '45337', Welded Tender

D11-13 - BR Black, Un-numbered, Welded Tender

D11-14 - BR Black, Un-numbered, Riveted Tender

D11-15 - BR Black, '45305', Welded Tender

D11-16 - LMS Lined, '5428' 'Eric Treacy', Welded Tender

FIRST CAD PICTURES FOR WELDED TENDER

To announce this loco, we also commissioned Alan Gunston to paint us this superb painting, inspired by the style of many railway posters



So there we have it, what do you all think to this latest announcement?

All variants listed above are now available to pre-oder.

All the best,
Ellis.

Evening all,

Firstly, may I apologize for the delay in the first of these coaches getting to us.

However, I am happy to announce that we now have in stock the first of the Crimson coaches, which includes the BS (Brake Seconds), SO (Second Opens) and S (Second) class coaches.

The first of the lined maroon models are due in around 3 weeks.

Amey started ringing around for pre-orders today, although due to Telford prep it has been difficult to get in touch with everyone!

We will bring plenty down to Telford in case you wish to beat us to your order, otherwise we shall be calling on Monday.

All the best,
Ellis.